Hinge set

ABSTRACT

A gravity hinge set includes upper and lower hinges providing three directions of adjustment with the load bearing hinge being provided with insertable ramps for converting the hanger set from one in which the door can remain in an opened position when fully opened to one in which the door always and automatically returns to a closed position.

United States Patent Edens 1 Mar M, W72

[54] HINGE SET ,378,881 4/1968 Hentzl etal "W153" [72] Inventor: James A. Edeus, Rock Falls, Ill. Primary Examiner Donald A. Grimm [73] Assignee: National Manufacturing Co., Sterling, lll. AttorneyFidler, Patnaude & Lazo [22] Filed: Sept. 25, 1970 [57] ABSTRACT [21] App! 75338 A gravity hinge set includes upper and lower hinges providing 3 three directions of adjustment with the load bearing hinge [52] U.S.CI. ..l6/l53 being provided with insertable ramps for converting the [51] Int. Cl. ..E05f l/06 hanger set from one in which the door can remain in an [58] Field of Search ..l6/ 152, 155, 156, 153, 154 opened position when fully opened to one in which the door always andautomatically returns to a closed position. [56] References Cited 10 Claims, 13 Drawing Figures UNITED STATES PATENTS 700,694 511902 Le Marqu ..l6/152 X 'T PATENTEBMARMIQ 3.6%,327

SHEET 1 OF 2 lNl/E/VTOR JAMES/J. EDE'US PATENIEDMAR 1 I972 SHEET 2 OF 2 48 //v VE/V TOR.

JA MES A 05115 HINGE SET The present invention generally relates to gravity hinges for use with swinging doors of the type commonly known as cafe doors.

Gravity hinges of this type are ordinarily sold in sets with one hinge of the set being the load bearing and control member and the other hinge being a guide to hold the door upright. The load bearing hinge generally includes an inclined cam surface and a cam follower for automatically returning the door to a closed position without the use of springs or counterweights. US. Pat. No. 2,920,340 to Hopkins discloses a hinge set of this type which incorporates a pair of detents for holding the door in its two fully open positions.

An object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved gravity hinge set.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a gravity hinge set which is readily convertible from a hinge set which automatically returns a swingable door to a closed position to one which holds the door in one or both of its open positions.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a gravity hinge set which enables a plurality of different adj ustments for aligning a swingable door with the door frame in which it is mounted.

Briefly, the above and further objects may be realized by providing an upper hinge including a pintle receiving bearing which is adjustable in a horizontal direction parallel to the doorway in which the door is mounted, and a lower, load bearing hinge including a camming and thrust bearing member adjustable in two transverse horizontal directions, one of which is parallel to the direction of adjustment of the bearing in the upper hinge. Additionally, the lower hinge includes a pair of recesses which cooperate with a transverse lug on a door mounted bottom pintle to provide detents for holding the door in its two fully open positions. A pair of ramp elements are respectively insertable into grooves in the thrust bearing member to render the detents ineffective to hold the door in the open positions, whereby the ramps may be used to convert the door from one that stays in one or both open positions to one which automatically closes.

The invention, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages thereof will best be understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a portion of a doorway in which a door is hung by a hinge set embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially sectioned view of the upper hinge of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a partially sectioned view of a lower hinge embodying the present invention, which hinge is illustrated as being connected between the doorjamb and the door;

FIG. 5 is a view of the lower hinge taken from the lines 5-5 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the lower hinge of FIG. 4 taken along the line 6-6 thereof;

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the lower hinge of FIG. 4 taken from the line 7-7 thereof;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of the lower hinge taken along the line 88 of FIG. 4;

FIG. 9 is a sectional view taken along the line 99 of FIG. 8, the lower pintle and cam follower member being deleted for purposes of clarity;

FIG. 10 is a cross-sectional view of FIG. 9 taken along the line 10-10 thereof;

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of the lower hinge showing the door in a fully open position; and

FIG. 12 is a view similar to FIG. 11 but showing the door in an open position and also showing the ramps in place.

Referring now to the drawings and particularly to FIG. 1 thereof, there is shown a door panel 15 swingably mounted on a door jamb 16 by means of a hinge set including an upper hinge 17 and a lower hinge 18. As shown in FIG. 1, the door 15 is in a closed position and is adapted to be pivoted about the hinges 17 and 18 through to a fully open position in a direction either into the paper or in a direction out of the paper. As more fully described hereinafter, the pivotal axis of the upper hinge 17 is adjustable in a horizontal direction which extends perpendicular to the paper as viewed in FIG. 1 and the hinge 18 provides adjustment of the pivotal axis thereof in a direction parallel to the direction of adjustment of the upper hinge 17 and it further provides adjustment in a direction perpendicular thereto. Accordingly, the door 15 may be easily and accurately hung relative to the jamb 16 and a similar door with which it is mounted.

Referring more particularly to FIGS. 2 and 3, the upper hinge 17 includes an L-shaped bracket having a mounting flange portion 19 suitably apertured so as tobe mountable against the face of the jamb 16 and secured thereto by a plurality of wood screws 20. A bearing support flange 21 lies perpendicular to the mounting flange l9 and is provided with an elongated slot 22 for receiving a molded plastic bearing member 24. The bearing member 24 has a flat, main body portion and is attached to the flange 21 by means of a hex-head screw 25 which loosely extends through an aperture 26 in the bearing member 24 and is threaded into a threaded hole 27 in the flange 21. An annular sleeve or bushing portion 28 depends from the main body of the member 24 through the slot 22 and includes a generally conical internal bearing surface 29 for receiving a pintle 30 attached to the upper edge of the door 15. As shown, the main body of the bearing member 24 is provided with a cylindrical opening 31 which is coaxial with the opening 29.

The bearing member 24 may be formed of a suitable plastic material such as nylon and has a planar bottom surface 32 which rests on the top planar surface of the flange 21. The upper face of the flange 21in the vicinity of the opening 27 is knurled or otherwise roughened so that when the screw 25 is tightened down, the bearing member 24 does not spuriously pivot about the screw 25. Similarly, and as shown in FIG. 3, the bottom face of the flange 21 is also knurled or otherwise roughened as best shown at 34, so that when the bracket is mounted in an inverted position from that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, and the bearing member 24 is then mounted on the top of the flange 21, its lower face will bear against the knurled surface 34. It may thus be seen that irrespective of the two ways the bracket of the hinge 17 is mounted, the bearing 24 is pivotally adjustable about the screw 25, the slot 22 being sufficiently wide to permit such adjustment which is essentially parallel to the passageway in which the door 15 is mounted.

The pintle 30 is an integral part of a. door mounted pintle member 35 which includes an apertured mounting flange 36 for receiving a plurality of wood screws 37 used to attach the pintle member 35 to the upper edge of the door 15 at the inner comer thereof.

Referring to FIG. 4, the lower hinge llB includes a mounting bracket having a mounting flange 40 which is adapted to be mounted against the jamb 16 by means of a plurality of wood screws 41 which extend through suitable openings of the flange 40. The lower mounting bracket also includes a flange 42 lying perpendicular to the flange 40 and having an elongated mounting slot 44 therein which is elongated in a direction perpendicular to the face of the door jamb 16. Mounted on the planar upper face of the flange 42 is a thrust bearing and camming member 45 formed of a suitable bearing material such as nylon and having a generally cylindrical inner bearing surface 47 through which a door mounted pintle 48 extends. A collar portion 49 extends through the slot 44 and a pair of cars 50 and 51, best shown in FIG. 10, extend from the bottom of the collar thereby to provide a bayonet type joint for holding the bearing member 45 in assembled relationship on the bracket during mounting and adjustment thereof.

In order to adjustably mount the bearing member 45 on the flange 42, the flange includes an aperture 53 for loosely receiving the shank of a bolt 54 which loosely extends upwardly through an aperture 55 in the member 45 and is threadedly received in an apertured nut 56. As best shown in FIG. 7, the slot 53 is elongated in a direction parallel to the face of the jamb 16 to provide pivotal adjustment of the bearing member 45 about the pintle axis. As best shown in FIGS. 6 and 8, the slot 55 in the bearing member 45 and the slot 44 in the bracket flange 42 permits linear adjustment of the bearing member in a direction perpendicular to the surface of the door jamb 16.

In order to control the swinging of the door 15, the bearing member 45 is provided with a pair of upper inclined camming surfaces 58 and 59 as best shown in FIG. on which rests the lower arcuate end 60 of a cam follower or lug 61 which is integral with the upper portion of the pintle 48. As best shown in FIG. 5, the inclined surfaces 58 and 59 meet at the bottom in a groove 62 having a surface complementary to that of the bottom of the cam follower 61. It may thus be seen that when the cam follower 61 rests on either of the inclined surfaces 58 and 59, the weight of the door causes the door to pivot about the axis of the pintles 48 and 30 until the follower 61 drops into the groove 62 at the bottom. The provision of this groove assures that the door quickly comes to a stop in the closed position as illustrated in FIG. 1. As shown, the pintle 48 and the cam follower lug 61 are integral parts of a bottom pivot member which further includes an apertured mounting flange 63 by which the pivot member is suitably attached by wood screws to the bottom edge of the door with the pintles 30 and 48 in substantial alignment.

In order to permit the door to be temporarily held in one or the other of the open positions, the inclined surfaces 58 and 59 are respectively provided with a pair of aligned grooves 64 which, in cross section, are complementary in shape to the bottom surface 60 of the cam follower lug 61. When the door 15 is in a fully open position as viewed in FIG. 11, the bottom surface of the cam follower lug 61 is received in the groove 64 thereby holding the door in the open position until it is given a counterclockwise force as viewed from the top to cause the cam follower lug 61 to be lifted over the lip of the groove 64 so that it may then fall under the force of gravity along the inclined surface 58 into the groove 62 at the bottom. It will be apparent that when the door is fully open in the opposite direction wherein the cam follower lug 61 has ridden up the inclined surface 59, the lug 61 will be received in the groove 64 in the surface 59 and held in the open position.

While it is frequently desired that swinging doors include means for temporarily holding them in an open position, in some installations it is preferable that the doors always and automatically return to the closed position and that they never hang up or be restrained in an open position. The hinge of the present invention is adapted to be modified to cause the above operation. Forthis purpose, a pair of slots 66 and 67 are molded into the bearing member 45 and respectively intersect the grooves 64 therein. A pair of ramp elements 70 and 71, which as best shown in FIG. 13, may be molded as a single unit of plastic, are respectively positionable in the grooves 66. These ramps 70 and 71 may be made as a single molding which is later separated at the time of use into the two ramp elements. They may be molded of the same plastic as the bearing member 65 and when positioned in the grooves 66 and 67 have an inclined upper surface 73 which extends above the top of the associated groove 64 in substantial alignment with the adjacent part of the inclined bearing surface 58 or 59. Consequently, with the ramp in place, the bottom of the cam follower lug 61 rides on the ramp surface 73 so that it cannot fall into the groove 64 to retain the door in an open position. The ramp elements or inserts 70 and 71 are removable from the recesses 66 and 67,'and a pair of holes 74 and 75 (FIG. 8) are provided in the bottoms of the recesses 66 and 67 to receive a punch or other tool for facilitating the removal of the ramp elements.

While the present invention has been described in connection with a particular embodiment thereof, it will be understood that many changes and modifications may be made without departing from the true spirit and the scope of the present invention. It is intended, therefore, to cover all such changes and modifications in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A gravity hinge for swingably mounting a door member on a frame member, comprising a first hinge part adapted to be secured to one of said members and having a pintle receiving opening and an inclined cam surface at least partially surrounding said opening,

a second hinge part adapted to be secured to the other of said members and having a pintle and a cam follower for riding on said cam surface,

a detent in said cam surface for receiving said cam follower to restrain said door in an open position, and

adjustable means selectively positionable over said detent to prevent said cam follower from entering said detent.

2. A gravity hinge as set forth in claim 1 wherein said adjustable means is a member removably positioned in said detent.

3. A gravity hinge as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first hinge part comprises a bracket member having a first portion adapted to lie against said frame member and a second plate-like portion lying in a horizontal plane,

a load bearing member provided with said cam surface and disposed on said plate-like portion,

said plate-like portion having a slot therein and said load bearing member therein having a plate-like therein,

said slots extending in mutually transverse directions,

a sleevelike portion of said load bearing member depending into said slot in said plate-like portion and a fastening element extending through a hole in said platelike portion into the other of said slots for securing said load bearing member to said bracket,

whereby said load bearing member is adjustable in two substantially transverse directions relative to said frame member.

4. A gravity hinge set comprising the hinge set forth in claim 3 and a second hinge, said second hinge comprising a bracket adapted to be secured to said frame member and having a plate-like portion with a slot therein,

a bearing member having a pintle receiving opening aligned with said slot, and 7 means pivotally mounting said bearing member on said bracket for adjusting the position of said pintle receiving opening relative to said frame member.

5. A gravity hinge as set forth in claim 1 wherein said second hinge part is an integral unit comprising a mounting flange portion,

said rod-like pintle portion extending from said flange portion, and

said cam follower'extending partially along one side of said pintle portion.

6. A gravity hinge set comprising the hinge set forth in claim 1 and a second hinge, said second hinge comprising a bracket adapted to be secured to said frame member and having a plate-like portion with a slot therein,

a bearing member having a pintle receiving sleeve disposed in said slot, and

means pivotally mounting said bearing member in said bracket for adjusting the position of said bearing member relative to said frame member.

7. A gravity hinge set comprising first and second hingesrespectively including a first hinge part adapted to be secured to a door and a second hinge part adapted to be secured to a frame member,

said hinge parts each including an L-shaped bracket and a bearing member adjustably secured to a respective one of said brackets, one of said bearing members being adjustable on the respective bracket in a first direction in a horizontal plane and the other of said bearing members being adjustable in two transverse directions in a horizontal plane on the other bra'cket.

8. A gravity hinge set according to claim 7 wherein said aligned grooves and a pair of slots intersecting said second hinge comprises a hinge as set forth in claim 1. grooves, and

9. A gravity hinge comprising a pair of members respectively insertable in said slots and an L-shaped bracket adapted to be secured to a door frame having inclined upper surface portions overlying said member, 5 grooves when said members are disposed in said slots. a load bearing member adjustably mounted on said bracket A gravity hinge as f l f" 9 f the axillflf and having a pintle receiving opening at least partially aid grooves intersects the principal axis of said pmtle receivsurrounded by an inclined cam surface, mg opening. said cam surface having a pair of oppositely disposed l0 

1. A gravity hinge for swingably mounting a door member on a frame member, comprising a first hinge part adapted to be secured to one of said members and having a pintle receiving opening and an inclined cam surface at least partially surrounding said opening, a second hinge part adapted to be secured to the other of said members and having a pintle and a cam follower for riding on said cam surface, a detent in said cam surface for receiving said cam follower to restrain said door in an open position, and adjustable means selectively positionable over said detent to prevent said cam follower from entering said detent.
 2. A gravity hinge as set forth in claim 1 wherein said adjustable means is a member removably positioned in said detent.
 3. A gravity hinge as set forth in claim 1 wherein said first hinge part comprises a bracket member having a first portion adapted to lie against said frame member and a second plate-like portion lying in a horizontal plane, a load bearing member provided with said cam surface and disposed on said plate-like portion, said plate-like portion having a slot therein and said load bearing member therein having a slot therein, said slots extending in mutually transverse directions, a sleevelike portion of said load bearing member depending into said slot in said plate-like portion and a fastening element extending through a hole in said plate-like portion into the other of said slots for securing said load bearing member to said bracket, whereby said load bearing member is adjustable in two substantially transverse directions relative to said frame member.
 4. A gravity hinge set comprising the hinge set forth in claim 3 and a second hinge, said second hinge comprising a bracket adapted to be secured to said frame member and having a plate-like portion with a slot therein, a bearing member having a pintle receiving opening aligned with said slot, and means pivotally mounting said bearing member on said bracket for adjusting the position of said pintle receiving opening relative to said frame member.
 5. A gravity hinge as set forth in claim 1 wherein said second hinge part is an integral unit comprising a mounting flange portion, said rod-like pintle portion extending from said flange portion, and said cam follower extending partially along one side of said pintle portion.
 6. A gravity hinge set comprising the hinge set forth in claim 1 and a second hingE, said second hinge comprising a bracket adapted to be secured to said frame member and having a plate-like portion with a slot therein, a bearing member having a pintle receiving sleeve disposed in said slot, and means pivotally mounting said bearing member in said bracket for adjusting the position of said bearing member relative to said frame member.
 7. A gravity hinge set comprising first and second hinges respectively including a first hinge part adapted to be secured to a door and a second hinge part adapted to be secured to a frame member, said hinge parts each including an L-shaped bracket and a bearing member adjustably secured to a respective one of said brackets, one of said bearing members being adjustable on the respective bracket in a first direction in a horizontal plane and the other of said bearing members being adjustable in two transverse directions in a horizontal plane on the other bracket.
 8. A gravity hinge set according to claim 7 wherein said second hinge comprises a hinge as set forth in claim
 1. 9. A gravity hinge comprising an L-shaped bracket adapted to be secured to a door frame member, a load bearing member adjustably mounted on said bracket and having a pintle receiving opening at least partially surrounded by an inclined cam surface, said cam surface having a pair of oppositely disposed aligned grooves and a pair of slots intersecting said grooves, and a pair of members respectively insertable in said slots and having inclined upper surface portions overlying said grooves when said members are disposed in said slots.
 10. A gravity hinge as set forth in claim 9 wherein the axis of said grooves intersects the principal axis of said pintle receiving opening. 